It’s been over a decade since former Geelong skipper Steven King had set foot into the inner sanctum of GMHBA Stadium.
King finished up at the Cats after 193 games and two Carji Greeves Medals, before a stint at St.Kilda as a player, and then coach.
But he couldn’t have looked more at home in the Cats’ blue coaches top, Ford, Morris, and the familiar Cats logo emblazoned across his chest.
“A Fair bit's changed," he told GeelongCats.com.au on Tuesday.
“This is the first time I've come back and looked at this facility. It's an incredible transformation since I was down here a long time ago.
“I've been down here a little bit as an opposition coach but we're not privileged enough to see this side of the ground, it's amazing.”
King said it was ‘humbling’ to return to his roots after time at the Saints, a decade and a premiership at the Western Bulldogs in 2016, and a couple of seasons on the Gold Coast.
But King brings more than familiarity. He finished his career at the Suns as interim senior coach and arrives back in Geelong as one of the more highly credentialed assistant coaches in the industry.
“It's been quite a journey,” he said.
“I started my coaching career 12 or 13 years ago now and I've worked with some great people, and some great coaches, and that's helped round my knowledge of my game, and keep trying to learn.
“That's one of the factors in coming back here, I've really admired from afar what this club has been able to achieve for a long period time. If I can learn some of the lessons from what's been happening here then, I'm really excited about that.”
King and James Rahilly, the Cats’ other new addition to the coaching ranks spent Monday welcoming Geelong’s first to four year players back and he said he was impressed with what he saw.
“They've all come back in really good condition and had some really good fitness testing, but more importantly we had a really good 60 minute skills session on that back of that, and that really shows me, as someone coming in fresh, that they've really done their work over the break and I think they're really going to grab that opportunity while the more experienced boys are still on their break.
“It's a great opportunity for them and especially for me with fresh eyes to see what they’re about, what their strengths are, and what they bring to the table.”
